A Bird's Season
by Dragon and Panda Writers
Summary: Summer Rose was dead. Everyone knew it. It was a fact like the sky is blue. But, it turns out that you can't always trust the facts given to you. Because you can believe something, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's true.
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. The one in the front is going to be quick. We will explain more at the end. Anyways this took 2 months to make. So i hope you enjoy.**

 **WARNING: DRAGON AND PANDA DON'T OWN RWBY. THAT BELONGS TO ROOSTER TEETH. PLEASE SUPPORT THE OFFICIAL RELEASE.**

 _Back before Huntsmen, before Kingdoms, it was said that those born with silver eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior. You see, the Creatures of Grimm, the most fearsome monsters mankind had ever encountered, were afraid of those silver-eyed warriors. They were the best of the best. It was said that even a single look from one of these fighters could strike a Grimm down. Every warrior born with those silver eyes wields incredible power and skill._

 _However this isn't the story of any silver eyed warrior. But of a Rose. A white Rose by the name of Summer. She had a big and full life however it was rumored to have been cut short. Or was it really?_

Summer smiled as her stepdaughter Yang held on to her leg for dear life. She had just told her that she had to leave to check out some grimm activity. Yang then proceeded to hug her as tightly as he small body would allow as a way to say goodbye.

"I won't be gone long my little sunflower. How about when I get back, I'll make you and Ruby some chocolate chip cookies. How about that?" Summer told Yang who smiled at the prospect of getting some of her mom's cookies. Summer gave Yang a hug before moving over to the living room where Tai who was holding her little baby rose.

"I've got to go now." Summer said smiling at her little Rose. "Mommy has to go little one. She will be back soon. With cookies!" She added at the end making her little Rose squeal a bit making her giggle. Tai shook his head with a smile.

"I think she might become addicted to your cookies." Tai told Summer with a bright smile.

"Then she will have all the cookies she wants." Summer responded making little Ruby excited and Tai shook his head. Summer walked over and grabbed her Sniper rifle that had rose decoration on it and a bladed edge just underneath the scope for when she turned it into her sword.

"Be safe ok?" Tai asked Summer a bit concerned like always. Summer giggled before giving him a quick kiss on the check.

"Of course. I'm not Qrow." Summer giggled as she pulled up her hood before walking out of the house.

* * *

Summer was fighting a losing battle and nothing she did could change the tides in her favour. She was outnumbered five to one by some random people she didn't even know. They were just waiting for her in the area where the grimm numbers were higher than usual. The entire mission had been a setup and she'd played right into these unknown enemy's hands. She'd been such a fool to think that there wasn't something off with this entire mission.

Now she was paying the price for it. She'd never see Ruby or Yang ever again.

She was crouched down behind some boulders with fire coming from seemingly all directions. Just as she had regained her breath, she was forced to roll out of the way of a bullet. She jumped up into the air and took aim down the scope and fired off two shots into the tree where the bullet had come from before she was forced to twist about in the air to dodge the almost feral swipes of a man's bladed gauntlets.

She hit the ground and rolled out of the way as another unidentified enemy swung a greatsword down where her head had just been. While, that roll saved her from a beheading, it did not, however, save her from the full body tackle from the brute with the gauntlets that punched through her aura and caused a few of her ribs to noticeably crack.

Summer was sent flying from it and landed flat on her back, struggling to recover from the impact. There wasn't much time for that though because a bullet passed right through her leg as she went to stand up.

This team had been handpicked to take her down, she noted idly before she closed her eyes and focused in one last ditch attempt to save herself. She'd only get one shot before she was out for the count on this.

She summoned up the emotions required to allow her to unlock that inherited power passed down many generations of her bloodline and felt a renewed sense of energy fill her. It was only temporary and wouldn't replace the aura she had already lost.

This was a major risk but damn it, she was going to see Ruby and Yang alive again.

She launched herself at the brute with the gauntlets and wrapped her arms around his head and neck. She ignored the sickening crack as she simply twisted and let him fall to the ground.

She twisted around and charged at the tree she had shot at earlier with her disregarded rifle and blindly threw a punch, which by some sort of luck, connected with what felt like the sniper's shoulder. There was a popping feeling beneath her fist before both herself and the sniper tumbled out of the tree and onto the dirt.

She stood up to finish the sniper off, but a chill passed through her body and she ducked,just barely dodging the massive greatsword from earlier, distracting her long enough that the sniper had the chance to escape into the brush. Summer did a low sweep, knocking the only remaining target she could find onto their back. She got on top of them and just started throwing punches at their face.

These people weren't even human anymore to her.

They were just obstacles.

Summer heard more noises and cursed to herself. Of course this wasn't them all. This was only the first wave. Throwing one last punch at the person below her, she stood up and bent down to grab the limp body and tossed it towards the noise hoping to buy herself a few more seconds.

She balled up the remaining energy she had left and let out an explosive cry as she released all the energy to level the area surrounding her by about fifteen yards in diameter. Summer then dropped to the ground, totally spent and exhausted beyond the point of no return it seemed.

The destructive and blindingly white light burned the retinas of the next wave long enough that they couldn't see anything for a good while and when they finally did regain their sight, Summer and her weapon were gone. Just a bloody white cloak remained.

* * *

Summer awoke in an unfamiliar place that was neither her home nor any hotel room she remembered renting out for the night. Her entire body felt heavy and ached from the bruises she could tell decorated nearly all of her from a particularly rough fight. The only thing that concerned her was that she didn't remember much from the encounter other than thinking that she was going to die.

Where was she? That was the one question that concerned her most of all.

She needed to figure that out so she could get home to Ruby, Yang, and Taiyang. They still needed her. She sat up on the cot she had been laying on and stood up, ignoring the dull ache in her side and ribs. First thing's first, she needed to find her or just some kind of weapon and be ready to fight her way out of where she was. She had been placed in a decently large sized tent and could hear the sound of rain pattering off of the tent's surface.

She spotted the remains of her precious weapon of many years and examined it. It was shattered to pieces and was beyond repair, she would have to build a new weapon once she was back to safety.

She crouched down and got low as she began to sneak her way towards the exit. She didn't want to alert any unfriendlies in the process of escaping. As she exited the tent, she could just make out footsteps over the rain. Reacting on instinct, she dove between two tents and moved backwards away from the footsteps, trying to put some distance between her possible captors as soon as possible.

She heard a tent flap being pushed aside and what sounded like a long-suffering sigh. She took this as her queue to start running. She spun around on her heels and sprinted in the opposite direction from where the footsteps originally came from.

Before she could really get anywhere, a distinct red portal appeared in front of her and a masked woman appeared in front of her. She recognized the semblance but not the woman standing in front of her but only one person in the world could use that semblance. Summer narrowed her eyes at the woman, her eyes going down to the sword resting comfortably in her ex-teammate's hand.

"Raven." She practically spat out. She harboured no warm feelings for her former teammate anymore. Especially after she left Taiyang and Yang behind in favour to fall back into her former lifestyle, she deserved nothing less than that.

Raven sheathed the sword and pulled off her grimm-like helmet. She held it at her hip with that same infuriating unimpressed look on her face. "Summer. I'd recommend going back to your tent, you still haven't recovered from that attack."

"And just what proves to me that you weren't the one behind it?!" Summer demanded as she balled up her hands into fists, her fury threatening to boil over into pure rage.

"The fact that you're alive even still, having my people provide you much needed medical aid, me not locking you up, I can go on Summer if you need me to. I don't need to harbor you. You were lucky that I found you. This is nothing but me repaying my debt to you. And Taiyang."

At that, something in Summer snapped and she cocked back her fist and threw a punch that Raven easily intercepted and brought around to twist behind Summer's back. She dropped her helmet and brought her hand down to the base of her neck, knocking out the woman.

"I never thought I'd see the day that you lose your temper." She muttered. "It's far less satisfying than I'd thought it would be."

Raven hefted the unconscious woman over her shoulder and sighed. Vernal emerged from a tent where she had been hiding. She had asked the younger girl to keep an eye on Summer in case she got any funny ideas. She had the right idea it turns out.

"Post a guard to her and make sure she stays in your sights. She can wander but don't let her leave the camp. There's someone who would very much like her dead and I'm not about to let her be stupid enough to get herself killed. Notify me when she's awake again and isn't sulking like I know she'll end up doing."

Vernal took Summer as Raven bent down to pick up her discarded helmet and brushed the mud off of it.

"This better be worth it. I'm putting a lot at risk here Summer." She muttered as she put the helmet back on, pulled her weapon out, and opened a portal.

Summer Rose, known to many as a huntress, a mother, and wife, was dead in every place in the world but this one, and that was how Raven was going to keep it. Whether Summer wanted it or not.

With that final thought, Raven stepped into the portal.

* * *

 **Did you guys enjoy that? We hope so. It original was a break from our Winter's Bloom fanfic but we** _(I)_ **enjoyed it too much. Well I did. Anyways this might just be a one shot** _(He's lying. I will not allow it to just be a oneshot)_ **[I SAID MIGHT]. Let us know what you think. All Reviews are welcome. And please check out the Winter's Bloom fanfic** _(or our profile)_ **if you want. Panda any words to leave us off?**

 _I enjoy writing this. Raven is surprisingly fun to write. I have many plans for this. Especially now that volume 5 is over. Uhhhhh… I hope you enjoy this!_

 **Until next time guys. See Ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

Summer woke up once more in a much bigger tent than the one she had woken up in earlier. She now had a raging headache to add to her list of recent list of injuries. She sat up in her cot and cradled her head for a moment as she tried to put together what she was going to do next.

She was stuck here, that much she could tell. Raven wasn't about to let her leave and it was apparent in her weird misguided way. She didn't know how this was protecting her, but one way or another Summer was going to find out.

One thing Summer neglected to notice after waking up, was the girl sitting on a stool next to the tent flap. She had a rather uninterested look on her face as she crossed her arms, tapping her finger lightly against it to keep herself from doing something that Raven wouldn't approve of.

Summer finally lifted her head from her hands and saw the girl out of the corner of her eye. "I'm assuming Raven is having you keep an eye on me while she's off doing her own thing."

Vernal's face flickered for a moment, Summer caught the slightest glint of amusement spark across her face before vanishing. She nodded firmly.

Summer looked around the tent, not seeing the one object she'd been looking for. "Raven better not have taken or lost my cloak, or we will have issues."

She stood up and felt like she moved too quickly judging from the tunnel vision she currently had, she stumbled a bit before catching herself on a table. Vernal stayed where she was, choosing only to intervene if the woman wasn't going to get back up. "Thanks for the help here kid."

"You're fine." It was short and to the point. No justification.

Summer raised a brow at the cold attitude towards her and muttered under her breath, "This is definitely Raven's camp. You're all prickly and rude. Like a cactus."

Vernal bristled a little at the insinuation and turned to glare at Summer, but she bit her tongue. Summer chose to not pay any attention to the glare she was receiving and looked around the tent.

"Where exactly am I?" She asked as she wandered about the tent and looked around and touching some of the random objects she saw in the large tent. Receiving nothing but silence in response, Summer shrugged and placed a tea cup down on a table, turning to Vernal.

"Raven's off doing her own thing isn't she?" Summer said, amused that she was being ignored by the young teenager.

Still no response.

"You're a rather broody teenager. Is there any relation to Raven? If so, the resemblance is remarkable." She noted idly as she kept an eye out for any sort of reaction from Vernal.

As she looked at a map marked with what she assumed were potential places for camp and raids. "This is a decent setup but you guys could do with a more competent leadership system. Mediocrity will only hold your camp back."

That had Vernal clenching her jaw and balling her hands up into fists, but she didn't say a word.

"It's funny you know. I didn't take Raven for someone that enjoyed living out in the woods like a common hick."

Seeing as she wasn't getting the reaction she wanted, she decided it was time to roll out the big guns.

"I bet your mother didn't make you cookies when you were little."

Vernal's anger morphed into confusion and she tilted her head back slightly like she was trying to figure out how she was supposed to react to what was just said.

"What the hell are you even?" Vernal demanded as she stared at the bizarre woman who had started out throwing insults and ended up making weird comments about cookies and her mother. "Why are you even here?!"

Vernal it seemed had finally had enough of Summer for one day.

Summer let out a bitter chuckle. "That's the question everyone wants to Raven to answer isn't it? But I doubt that she'll grace us mere mortals with her divine wisdom."

Vernal shot Summer a glare before exiting the tent and standing outside the entrance.

* * *

Raven Branwen was not having an enjoyable day. That much was evident to the other bandits that came along on the raid with her. Many of them were regretting coming along on something that they usually found quite enjoyable, simply because the moody aura of Raven. She walked ahead of the group as they were making their way back to camp. Raven walked into the camp. She headed to see how their guest was doing when she heard Vernal shouting. She narrowed her eyes as she walked in to see Vernal about to lunge at a wounded Summer who was leaning on the table.

"Vernal! What do you think you're doing?" Raven asked annoyance clear in her voice making Vernal freeze and Summer narrow her eyes at her old partner.

"And you! Quit causing trouble and provoking my people! You're bound to get yourself hurt with how you piss off everyone around here!" She snapped, not even looking at Summer. Summer opened her mouth to say something, but Raven didn't even want to hear it.

"Just stop being self-involved before you get yourself into something I can't protect you from. You can keep pushing your luck, but there's only so much my men are willing to take before they choose to ignore my orders." She said harshly before walking out of the tent and going to check on their haul in from the most recent raid. She needed to catch whoever was skimming off the top and appropriately punish them for it.

* * *

So Raven lied and to herself too. She decided to go to Summer's funeral. She hid until even Qrow, Taiyang, and the girls were leaving before she flew down in front of the grave and transformed back into her normal self.

She stared down at the gravestone, silently thinking on what could've been, knowing that Summer could actually be dead and that she had barely saved her.

"Tell me, are you here because you actually cared, or because you feel obligated to?" Qrow asked as he stood at a distance, his arms crossed, his flask held lightly in his hand.

Raven remained silent, her mask hiding a blank face, turning towards her brother. "You know this is only the beginning, right? So you better help Taiyang teach those girls the meaning of loss."

"You know as well as I do what's coming. And yet you choose to try to turn the death of our teammate into a lesson for Ruby and Yang. You'd rather play bandit back home than be a mother." His eyes narrowed momentarily as he tucked the flask away and then rested his hand on the hilt of Harbringer.

"I'd rather protect my people than help you and Ozpin try to prevent the inevitable." She snapped as she turned back around to stare at the gravestone before her.

"Why you even went back there confuses me! The only good thing we learned there was how to survive!"

"At least I know when to give up on a girl." She said the smirk on her face evident in her voice. Qrow froze for a moment, before he drew Harbringer and charged at Raven.

Within a moment, Raven was flying off into the forested area and Qrow was left hunched over on the ground, grieving over his supposedly dead teammate.

* * *

Raven left to go get her angst fill for the day and fought dirty with her brother. God I loved that last scene. Apologies for the short chapter we've been struggling and I struggled immensely in this one.


End file.
